Two Flowers
by anenome013
Summary: Two strangers arrive in Camelot and turn things upside-down. One hides a great secret while the other is just along for the ride, and boy is it a bumpy ride. Female OCs. T to be safe.


**I'm starting afresh with a new goal: new chapters every weekend! It's been a while, but I had an idea and I thought it would be fun to at least begin to write. Please leave a review if the fancy takes you!**

**N.B. This can be set in pretty much any point in the show after the appropriate characters have been introduced.**

* * *

After years on end of travelling through the Rift, Rosie still had never quite become used to it. It was doubly uncomfortable this time because she had taken Iris with her, but she would be damned if she let her friend see her disorientated- or, in fact, anything less than completely fine- and so she staggered to her feet while Iris did the same, her beautiful blue eyes blinking and putting Rosie's murky brown ones to shame. Catching Iris' arm to help her regain balance, she looked at her surroundings. Enormous trees towered over them everywhere with the type of thick branches that you could build a treehouse on, sunlight dappling their every leaf, creating a beautiful arboreal maze that twisted her mind and delighted her soul. The smell of loose earth teased her nostrils; it was the smell of the unknown, of infinite possibilities that fed the furthest reaches of her wild imagination, of some ambiguous home on the horizon. It was a smell Iris was unfamiliar with.

"Where are we? Actually, w_hen _are we?" asked Iris, stumbling and looking rather dazed. Rosie grinned at her amazement. She had never taken anybody with her on her travels before, and somehow when she was so used to the constant change of time and place she forgot that others- almost any other- were yet to see even a modicum of the universe had to offer.

"Where? Forest. When? No idea. There are no footpaths, fences or really any evidence of anything modern, so I guess we're somewhere a few centuries in the past. Not necessarily, though, so actually that doesn't help us at all," Rosie explained, making Iris snort with suppressed laughter, her rosy mouth flickering upwards for just a moment. "Shoot, where's my bag?"

"Oh, I think it's over there," said Iris. "It must have fallen off when we came out the Rift. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant journey." Rosie rolled her eyes because moving all the way over there was _effort_ which was something she wanted to avoid putting into anything at this time in the possibly-not-morning. Tangerine mist snaked from her hand the four metres between her and the brown leather bag in which were contained her many possessions.

Everything exploded with noise.

Iris cried out as the ringing, piercing screech from nowhere became everywhere and enveloped them both. It hurt them; Rosie gasped for breath and Iris tumbled onto the precious earth, eyes shut, her fragile consciousness shattered by the atrocity invading the silence. Birds took flight, flowers wilted, those dappled leaves rained down onto Iris' innocent face and flaxen braid. And then all of it stopped after twenty year-long seconds.

As soon as it was over, Rosie shot to Iris, brushing the leaves off of her and gently shaking her. "Iris? Hey, wake up," she whispered, for fear of pushing her deeper into darkness if she shouted. It was clear what had happened: the noise was feedback. Someone had done magic at the same time as her, very close to her judging by the volume of the sound. But who could possibly have done magic? She was on Earth, that much was clear, and in her experience magic wasn't terribly common there. This was _very _interesting. After brief deliberation, she grabbed a sparkly notebook from her bag and tore out a page. Then she scrawled a note: '_Gone 2 find source of noise. Don't go anywhere. Back soon. - R_'. Then, after putting Iris in what she hoped was a somewhat comfortable position, she tied a ball of string (found after a quick rummage through a miscellany of tape, paperclips and other such mundane items) to a thin tree branch, and, keeping hold of the other end, she ran in the vague direction from which the noise had seemed to come.

* * *

Arthur was hot and bothered. Various royal duties had left him wanting a break in tranquility, but Merlin's jabbering had annoyed him so much that he had split off from him. Merlin knew the way back to Camelot, he reasoned, so he'd just meet him back at the castle later to was Arthur's clothes. Arthur had gone as far from his manservant as possible to try and clear his head, but thoughts of responsibility kept edging their way in amongst the deep breaths and isn't-this-nice-scenery sighs. He worked entirely too much, but he didn't really complain. Someone had to run the kingdom, right? These days threats were ubiquitous; his youthful lack of experience made it even harder to win respect but the virtue with which he operated balanced that out to equilibrium. He strived to be merciful. But what was mercy without decisiveness?

Ruminating on this, he caught sight of a pair of legs sticking out from behind a tree. This was an odd thing to see after a period of self-reflection, so it seemed only natural to investigate. Furrowing his brow, Arthur peered around the tree and saw an adolescent girl. She was unusually beautiful, with a soft, rosy face, thick golden hair, and delicate arms which were sprawled to the side. She did not move and her eyes were closed. Bending over her, he examined her head. No blood, and she didn't look pale or unwell, so what was she doing unconscious here? Maybe she was simply sleeping? Then he saw a piece of white material with grey lines that looked a bit like parchment with a message on it in language he could only half understand. He thought it best to check that she wasn't being held hostage or something. The worst that could happen was that he disturbed her sleep, right? He shook her and gently tapped her face until she stirred, mumbling something about a rose. "Miss? Are you alright?" he asked tentatively, watching her eyes widen at the sight of some random person bending over her. "I promise you're safe. What happened?"

"Rosie tried to get her bag," slurred the girl, caught by Arthur as she stumbled while rising. "There was a noise," she elaborated helpfully.

Arthur didn't know what she meant, but he suspected that she had probably hit her head hard enough to make her confused. He deemed it prudent to keep her talking. "What's your name?" he asked kindly.

"Iris," she replied cautiously. "And you?"

"Arthur. I found this note on the floor, I think it's meant for you," he said, handing her the not-parchment. He watched her unfocused eyes scan the words, her face dropping.

"Rosie's gone somewhere. I don't know when she'll be back," managed Iris thickly. "Can you wait with me?"

Moved to pity, Arthur sat down next to this vulnerable stranger. He should have known by now that this was how adventures began.


End file.
